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Friday, July 22, 2011

Garlic Mustard Recipe - Garlic Mustard-Mustard

By gathering the small, black and very numerous seeds from the invasive garlic mustard (Alliara petiolata), we can make a few tasty condiments, dressings and spices. This mustard is hot like wasabi or grated horseradish. The burn will light up your sinuses, but the mustard goes well on a sandwich with something fatty like swiss or ham. We also use the mustard like a traditional dijon in dressings and sauces. Try adding it to macaroni and cheese or a bechemel. We keep it in a jar in the refrigerator, and it may need a quick stir before using.

To grind the hard seeds, Robert uses a coffee grinder. The result is a dark brown powder that should be used immediately.

1. Whisk together the ground seeds with the salt and turmeric. Whisk in the water, honey and vinegar until smooth.
2. Allow the mustard to sit for a week in the refrigerator. It will need to be stirred before use and the color will darken. Keep stored, covered in the fridge for up to a year.

Hello! I have harvested about 2 cups of garlic mustard seed and am going to try your recipe for the mustard! Wondering if the seeds 'need' to be ground in a coffee grinder - meaning 'finely' - since I do not have such a thing will be doing it the old fashioned way with mortar and pestle - and, was thinking to leave a bit of texture.... Appreciate your comments!

Using a mortar and pestle should work fine. We use one to make lots of things-pesto, grinding nuts, grinding spices and pulverizing dried roots. I just thought more folks would have a spice grinder than a mortar!Karen

Thanks Karen, Grinding the seeds using the mortar and pestle worked a charm once I figured out how to break the seeds without having most of them jump out of the mortar! Have the mustard in the fridge where it is patiently 'developing', thought have to admit that I have already opened the jar a couple of times just to 'sniff' and drool a bit! Next weekend, crusty bread - and some great home cured ham to accompany this much anticipated wild treat!

You need to wait until the seed pods are dried out. You could try some now, but they might be not dried yet. But don't wait too long, because the seeds will all drop by themselves soon after they dry out.

Bob, we harvest the seeds as soon as the siliques (the long, skinny seed pods) have turned brown but have not dried out too much. If you wait too long, they will split open and drop all the seeds. We then spread out the seeds on a tray or plate once we get home, and let them air dry for a few days before keeping them in a glass jar in the freezer.

Hi- does the mustard gel up a bit in the fridge? I've only made mustard before by allowing the ingredients to soak with the whole seeds for a bit, and then pureeing it up in a blender. I used 7 T ground seeds as instructed (not 7 T seeds that I then ground) and it looks really thin. Advice? Super excited to give this a try!!!!